New York Television Festival Premieres its Lineup

Attention all DVR addicts, the New York Television Festival is approaching (Sept. 12-17). Today, organizers announced their lineup for the 2008 edition of Premiere Week, featuring shows from ABC, Fox, CBS, the CW, NBC and HBO. It’ll be like the upfronts for viewers instead of ad executives. There will be screenings of pilot episodes, followed by Q&As with actors and producers.

Some highlights?

On Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ABC’s American remake of Life on Mars will have a preview. The show is about NYPD Detective Sam Tyler (played by Jason O’ Mara) who finds himself transported from 2008 to 1973 during the tumultuous times of the Vietnam War, Watergate, women’s lib and the civil and gay rights movements. He is suddenly hurtled back in time when he’s ripped from 2008 after being hit by a car while chasing down a criminal. Life on Mars will premiere Thursday, Oct. 9 (10-11 p.m., ET).

J.J. Abrams’ highly anticipated show on Fox, Fringe, will be presented on Sept. 13, even though the special extended series premiere will have already aired on Sept. 9. But there will be a red carpet with the stars, including Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv and John Noble as an "unlikely trio" investigating fantastical events.

On Sept. 17, HBO will sneak preview its new half-hour animated comedy series, The Life and Times of Tim, followed by a chat with the show’s creator and executive producer, Steven Dildarian. According to press notes, "Tim is a typical, twenty-something New Yorker who’s looking to get ahead at work, while his girlfriend Amy just wants him to be normal, like her friends’ boyfriends. But in Tim’s world, the simplest everyday decisions get in the way, thanks to his habit of befriending unreliable characters who repeatedly get him into serious trouble."